[Whee!
]
Someone was saying something next to her, but it didn't really register. As Miran brought her eyes back down to earth, she saw a man coming towards her. She forgot about the first voice; it was impossible not to focus on this person: he was a giant of a man. A faint memory of this same giant wandering around town came back to her momentarily, but it passed in the same instant. He had not seemed harmless at the time she first noticed him, and her mind had been on other things, so she had put it out of her thoughts.
Now she could not ignore this great being in front of her. He was holding out in one hand an enormous bag that she could surely only carry in both arms. She cast her eyes uncertainly upon the man as he slowly and painfully crouched down in front of her so that they were at eye level with one another. She was tense and uncertain. What did this man want with her?
He glanced upwards at the sky, much like she had a minute ago. A sudden, warm feeling rushed out and she let her guard down a little bit. She studied the bag more carefully. It was certainly not a medicinal pouch, and it didn't appear to have any oddly shaped items in it; it looked like her coin-bag, only far larger -- why, it
was a money bag!
And he was holding it out to her.
Miran took a step back, shaking her head in fear. Where had he got so much money from? There was something impossible about it -- who was he?
But there must be hundreds of coins in there. There might even be six hundred. Of course, it might not be gold at all; it might just be silver or even bronze.
There was still no reason for him to give it to her, though.
Miran looked steadily back at the man. Behind him, she saw the innkeepers' daughter gazing at the two of them. A sudden gust of wind swung the wooden sign,
The Crowned Coral, a bright piece of coral with a crown on top in the middle of the ocean floor. She had an idea.
'If you can wait,' she said softly to the stranger, 'I am going to the inn. If you will come with me...' Her voice trailed off and she hurried back indoors. She pulled her cloak off the back off the door, and swept it around her shoulders. The sound of crinkling paper reminded her of the dreaded notice. She still could not believe it. Gazing at it for a few seconds, she then stuffed it quickly into her pocket.
If the stranger was still there when she came out, she was going to find out who he was and why he was trying to give her an enormous bag full of what looked like money.
More importantly, though, she was going to find out what exactly was going on.
Everyone knew that the inn was the place for finding things out.